And where did this concept of "older, more powerful men" being required to take additional wives find original religious sanction in Utah?
LDS scholar/researcher Richard S. Van Wagoner on 19th-century mainstream Mormonism: "Pressures to live polygamously...were compelling to Mormon males desirous of advancement in church position. Apostle John Taylor was told by Joseph Smith to take a second wife, and when Taylor hesitated, Smith spelled out the consequences of failure to enter polygamy: 'Elder Taylor, have you concluded to enter into that principle and observe the counsel that you have received?' I told him I was thinking about it very seriouisly, when he replied, 'Unless that principle is observed and acted upon, you can proceed no further with the full fellowship of God'...In 1875 Apostle Wilford Woodruff announced, 'We have many bishops and elders who have but one wife. They are abundantly qualified to enter the higher law and take more, but their wives will not let them. Any man who permits a woman to lead him and bind him down is but little account in the church and Kingdom of God.'" (Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History, p. 97)
Mormonism = Cult - I think we all know that ...
Here, lawsuits filed by FLDS "lost boys" want law enforcement in Utah & AZ, etc. to do more...yet we see so many libertarians who want hands-off from govt despite the underage marriages, sexual abuse, domestic violence, welfare fraud and other crimes.
Obviously, you are just picking on those poor old FLDS men who were doing nothing wrong.
What are the direct similarities of this group, the FLDS, and the main Mormon group, LDS, headquartered in Salt Lake City?
This is where it shows the journalist doesn't know the heritage from which fLDS has descended. This wasn't a new "change" to a "one-man rule"; this was simply a reversion to common leadership in the mainstream Mormon church:
1857: Brigham Young was both Lds "prophet" and territorial governor, ruling Utah during the iron-handed 1850s "reformation" of the internal church.
Early 1840s: Joseph Smith was both Lds "prophet" and mayor. When he didn't like his polygamy criticized, he ordered the destruction of the printing press that published it.
1841: Joseph Smith regularly sends out missionaries at will with the added "prerogative" of claiming their wives upon exiting the local scene. After sending out Levi Hancock as a missionary, author Fawn Brodie (referenced in No Man Knows My History, see p. 464) says Smith "married" Clarissa Reed Hancock while she was still married to Levi Hancock. (She was Smith's 7th wife...the 2nd wife at that time who was already married to someone else...He added dozens of more wives in the remaining years of his life)
Now Fast forward to the 20th century -- 1980: Ezra Taft Benson, Lds "prophet," gives address @ BYU Feb. 26 which shows vast reach of the "one-man rule" practice within Mormonism: In conclusion let us summarize this grand key, these “Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet”, for our salvation depends on them.
1. The prophet is the only man who speaks for the Lord in everything.
2. The living prophet is more vital to us than the standard works.
3. The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet.
4. The prophet will never lead the church astray.
5. The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time.
6. The prophet does not have to say “Thus Saith the Lord,” to give us scripture.
7. The prophet tells us what we need to know, not always what we want to know.
8. The prophet is not limited by men’s reasoning.
9. The prophet can receive revelation on any matter, temporal or spiritual.
10. The prophet may advise on civic matters.
11. The two groups who have the greatest difficulty in following the prophet are the proud who are learned and the proud who are rich.
12. The prophet will not necessarily be popular with the world or the worldly.
13. The prophet and his counselors make up the First Presidency—the highest quorum in the Church.
14. The prophet and the presidency—the living prophet and the First Presidency—follow them and be blessed—reject them and suffer.
Benson: I testify that these fourteen fundamentals in following the living prophet are true. If we want to know how well we stand with the Lord then let us ask ourselves how well we stand with His mortal captain—how close do our lives harmonize with the Lord’s anointed—the living Prophet—President of the Church, and with the Quorum of the First Presidency.
This is actually one of the problems of Islam and is thought to account for some of the constant rage of young men in those cultures. All things being equal, males and females occur in equal numbers among human beings, and when older, more powerful males get more than their share, so to speak, this leaves younger or less wealthy or less powerful males with no hopes at all of marrying and having their own families. This in turn leads to a sense of hopelessness, loss of faith in the future, and a deep resentment that their culture teaches them to turn outwards, blaming forces outside of their Islamic environment.
Mormonism and Islam are very similar - both syncretist cults based on the Old Testament and a somewhat corrupted form of Christianity (Arian-spawned heresies in the case of Islam and 19th century spiritualist Christianity in the case of Mormonism), founded by a "prophet" whose word became law, both very aggressive and violent (although outside of the FLDS, Mormons no longer practice this part of it), and of course, both pracitioners of polygamy (also renounced by modern mainstream Mormons). Like Islam, Mormonism also had its own bizarre "science," with beliefs such as that of the Indians arriving in the US in cork submarines. Oddly enough, many modern Mormons go into computer sciences, perhaps thirsting for something real that can't be manipulated.
I have always thought that an examination of the origin and development of Mormonism would give us important clues on the way to defeat Islam or at least force some of its adherents to modify their behavior. Of course, the Mormons themselves only "got respectable" and dropped some of their more objectionable practices, such as polygamy, because they met the superior force of the US Army and because they wanted Utah to become part of the Union and those were the conditions. So once again, perhaps, we get back to superior force.
But Islam is much more widespread and well-established than Mormonism, so it's going to take a lot more force to knock it back, let alone extinguish it.
Dr. Dan Fischer, the president and founder of Ultradent, is a very remarkable man in his profession and community, and has done much to help these “Lost Boys”.
What I don’t understand is this: Why do mainstream Mormons apologize for the FLDS? If some cult of sedevacantists were doing something evil, I, as a Catholic, would hardly be trying to justify their actions.
Wow, your post has been up two hours and no defenders are out yet, calling the story lies and distortions.
These people are sick, and they are an off shoot of lds, who believe they are the one and true lds.
“I won’t go back to organized religion.”
A sad last line; organized religion was not the problem. This particular organized religion was.
FLDS ping
And to THINK that them MEAN MORMON's in SLC won't ALLOW them FLDS people to be able to use the word MORMON to describe themselves!
And the Flds ones are the ones more closely following MORMONism's SCRIPTURE! [D&C 132]